As she moved the flashlight, shadows swayed in the beam of her light, and dust motes kicked up by her feet danced as if music were playing somewhere. Once again, despite the eerie and unsettling silence, she had the feeling that something was very much alive here. It further strengthened her conviction that coming tonight was the right course of action. At every turn her decision to be here was confirmed. It wasn’t a wise idea to leave Sadie in this place.
“Okay, Sadie,” she whispered while she turned full circle and studied the tall windows, the bare walls, and the stone floor in the beam of her flashlight. “Where are you?” Though her words were soft, they seemed to echo in the large room. More shivers assailed her body. In day-to-day business she always considered herself a pretty tough competitor. Right at this moment she was beginning to think she was far from tough. This place gave her the creeps.
Studying her surroundings, Anna decided the best and only way to do the search was to go one floor at a time. Clear the main floor and then go up to the second, the third, and finally the fourth. If there was an attic, she would hit it last. She really hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. She hoped she’d find Sadie quickly and they could get out of here. Please let her be on the first floor.
Anna’s work style had always been of the OCD methodical variety, and so she would use that philosophy here too. At times, being a bit obsessive-compulsive could come in handy. It had driven Lorna crazy, yet with Sadie, it always brought a smile. Another thing she loved about Sadie: unconditional acceptance.
Once more she did a full three-sixty, sweeping her gaze over everything the beam of her flashlight highlighted. She was hoping for something that would give her a clue as to where to start. If only she could find a switch that would light the place up. No such luck, not that she really believed she’d find a light switch. Even if she did, odds were that the electricity had been turned off for years.
There was nothing obvious in the lobby for anyone to hide behind, with the possible exception of the reception desk. It was as good a place as any to start. As soon as she stepped behind it, she was essentially done with the lobby, because it was empty. Not so much as a paperclip on the dusty surface. When they cleaned out this place, they obviously did a complete job. It didn’t appear that anyone planned on coming back.
She shined her flashlight down the hallway behind the reception desk. Closed doors lined the darkened expanse that stretched beyond the beam of her light, along with silence and shadows that gave her the shivers. She tapped her foot as she stared. She could stand here and think about what to do next, or she could get in gear. She opted for kicking it up a notch. It was time to check out the inner sanctum of the Healing Waters Hospital.
As Anna started to move away from the reception desk her light caught something on the floor. Apparently she was wrong when she’d decided the area was clean of everything except years of dust. She kneeled down to see what was beneath the counter and reflecting back the beam of her light. When her hand closed around a familiar object, her heart nearly stopped. Slowly she pulled her hand from beneath the counter, clutching the small item in her hand. Opening her clenched fist, she immediately recognized the black fob with the gold star on one side and the single key dangling from the silver loop. It was Sadie’s.
“Oh my God,” she gasped. “Where are you?” Tears pooled in her eyes and her heart took a leap. She had been right to come here.
“Visitors are not allowed unescorted beyond the desk.”
Anna screamed at the same time she jerked upright. When she did, she smacked her head soundly on the underside of the reception counter. For a moment, she saw stars and wasn’t sure she wasn’t going to black out. When the stars receded, she slowly rose to her feet. Rubbing the back of her head with one hand, she turned in the direction of the disapproving female voice that had come out of nowhere. She hadn’t heard a single footstep.
Halfway down the stairwell, with one hand on the banister, stood a dour-looking middle-aged woman in an ankle-length white skirt, black apron, and white nurse’s cap. Shiny black hair was tucked beneath the cap in a style she’d seen only in books. The woman’s expression telegraphed loud and clear that she wasn’t happy to see Anna. News flash. Anna wasn’t all that excited to see her either.
Slowly awareness dawned that something had changed, beyond the appearance of the strange woman. At first she couldn’t put a finger on what it was, and then it hit her. Soft lights were on all around her, bathing the lobby in a pale yellow glow that warmed the room. Where did they come from? A second ago the only light that cut through the darkness was from her flashlight. The other odd thing that struck her at the same time was the smell of smoke that filled the lobby, as if a wood fire was burning somewhere nearby. She was absolutely certain the smell hadn’t been in the air a minute ago. Had someone lit a fire in a fireplace somewhere? A spark of encouragement surged through her. Maybe Sadie had been able to start a fire to keep warm. It wasn’t exactly balmy in here. While the sudden appearance of lights made her nervous, the smell of a fire gave her a little hope.
“Where’s Sadie?” She tried to match the strange woman’s sharp, authoritative tone. Get snippy with me, bitch, and I’ll throw it right back at you.
“We have no guests named Sadie. Now you must leave.”
Guests? She made it sound like this was a hotel rather than what it really was. “Where’s Sadie?” she insisted. She didn’t believe the woman any farther than she could throw her. The freak knew more than she was telling.
The corners of the stranger’s mouth turned up, and the sight sent ice into Anna’s blood. It wasn’t a smile. It was the visage of a shark poised to attack. “Perhaps you refer to Rose’s young guest.”
“I don’t know a woman called Rose. I’m talking about Sadie, my wife. What have you done with her? I know she’s here, so it’s no use lying to me.” She didn’t know anyone named Rose, yet at the same time the name resonated in her subconscious. All of sudden, everything clicked into place. The necklace, Sadie, Rose—they were all connected.
“Why, I’ve done nothing with…what did you say her name is? Sadie? If she’s here, she’s safe because we’re here to help. We’ve always been here to help the less fortunate. It’s what we do so very well.” The woman clasped her hands together in front of her tidy apron. Her back was straight and her eyes empty as she stared down at Anna.
Those quietly uttered words chilled Anna to the soul. Lorna had talked about the evil they encountered at her house on the west side, and of the serial killer who’d taken the life of her friend, and she’d really believed she’d been embellishing for the sake of a good story. All of a sudden she was rethinking her assessment. This woman had an air about her that screamed malevolence. It was the first time Anna had ever been around someone who made her feel as though she needed to get as far away as possible.
It also strengthened her resolve to find her wife as quickly as possible. “I’m getting Sadie.” She shoved the car key in her pocket and rushed around the reception desk to the bottom of the stairs. The woman was standing in the middle of the staircase in what appeared to Anna to be an attempt to block her from coming up. She fully intended to simply barge past this odd and frightening woman. The advantage was hers because she was bigger, stronger, and more determined. No problem taking the bitch down. All she had to do was shove her out of the way and walk up the stairs one at a time. She didn’t make it far. The moment she was within reach, the woman put her hand on Anna’s arm, and her vision went completely dark.
*
“Damn it, damn it, damn it,” Lorna muttered when they pulled up beside Anna’s car. Why Anna couldn’t let them handle this search the right way was beyond her. Or not. When had Anna ever done things the way Lorna wished? Pretty much never was the most accurate answer. Looking back, Lorna could recall dozens of times when they had come at things like polar opposites. Interesting how at the time it had completely passed her by when they lived together, and yet now it was so incredibly clear
. The fact they’d stayed together as long as they did seemed to be a little miracle.
Katie was already out of her car with a giant flashlight in her hand by the time Lorna put her own car in park. Before they could even get out, Katie had paused next to Anna’s car and laid a hand on the hood. “It’s still warm,” she said. “She hasn’t been here very long. That’s good. Maybe we can stop her before she gets herself in trouble.”
Without waiting for Lorna or Renee, Katie headed toward the entrance of the main building, her stride long and purposeful. From the looks of it, she was in full cop mode. That could be bad for Anna, depending on what she’d done already. If they found Sadie here, it would go down better for Anna. If not…well, that was going to be Anna’s resolve.
“If she broke in, we could have a problem,” Katie said as Lorna and Renee raced up the steps behind her. She amended her previous thought, afraid it would most probably be bad for Anna.
“I know,” Lorna said, blowing out a long breath. “I was hoping we weren’t this far behind and could stop her before she did something stupid. She’s never been the impulsive type until now.”
They all stopped in front of the massive entry door. On the ground was the pry bar that Lorna had to assume was the same one Anna had brought with her. Her gaze moved from the abandoned pry bar to the fully intact, ornate glass door. No shattered glass and no splintered wood around the door frame. No one had touched it, from what she could tell. That was a good thing from that standpoint of avoiding an encounter with law enforcement. It also left one big question looming: if Anna hadn’t forced her way in, where was she?
Lorna tried the door handle, which was just as tightly locked as when they were here earlier. Anna hadn’t gotten in through this door. “You have the keys, right?” Lorna looked up at Katie.
Katie shook her head. “No. I couldn’t reach a soul at this time of night so we’re going to have to wing it.”
“This is weird,” Renee said as she reached down and picked up the pry bar. “Why bring this if she didn’t intend to use it? All it would take is one good swing to shatter the glass and open the door.”
Lorna shook her head. She’d been thinking the same thing. It wasn’t like Anna to abandon a plan once she had it in her head. The word stubborn came to mind. It would be hard to count the number of times she’d seen her dig her heels in and refuse to budge on something. “I don’t understand what she’s up to. I know she isn’t about to leave without finding Sadie first. Once she gets something in her mind she sticks with it to the bitter end.” She stepped to the railing and leaned out. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she yelled, “Anna!”
Her voice seemed to echo over and over on the quiet night air. When the sound finally settled down, she strained to listen for an answering call. When nothing came back to her, she was disappointed. Not even a tiny sound of movement like footsteps or doors opening. Where in the hell was the woman?
“She has to have gone inside. Maybe she found a door we missed earlier and it was open.” It was the only thing that made sense to her at the moment. Except it didn’t really make sense at all, considering Jeremy had checked all the doors, twice. When they left here, there was no way into the building.
“I don’t get it,” Katie said. “People routinely check state-owned property to make sure it’s all secure. It’s part of their job. The chance of finding an open door in any of these buildings is pretty slim, even without the padlocks and chains they placed on most of the doors. If she is inside, how did she get in?”
That was the million-dollar question. “No damn idea. Bolt cutters, maybe on one of the side doors?”
Katie tried the door just as Lorna had and then stepped back. “Well, it’s pretty clear this door is still locked up tight. Where did she get in if not here?”
“Unless she locked it behind her,” Renee said, and it was a logical thought. “Maybe she got in through this door, and that’s why she didn’t need the bar to force her way in.”
The more she thought about it, the more she questioned Renee’s train of logic. Lorna shook her head again. “No, why would she? She had to know we would follow her out here once I listened to her voice mail. If she didn’t want us to follow, she never would have left the message.” In fact, she had to assume, as dangerous as that was, that Anna was actually banking on the fact that Lorna would follow as soon as she listened to the voice mail.
None of this clicked into place for her, and the longer she stood here, the more uneasy she became. It wasn’t the mystery of where Anna was as much as it was some indefinable feeling. Something subtle and chilly seemed to reach out fingers to touch her cheek. It sent shivers through her body, and she didn’t like it. Not one little bit.
Following Katie’s lead, she took hold of the door handle again, intending to wrench the damn thing open one way or the other. This time when her fingers wrapped around the cold metal, electricity raced up her arm. She screamed and tried to pull her hand away. Strangely, she couldn’t. Her hand felt like it was glued to the door handle, and as she held on, her vision began to blur and her knees grew weak. Vaguely it occurred to her that she wasn’t going to be able to stand much longer. She wasn’t wrong. Pain shot up her thighs as her knees smacked into concrete.
“Come,” said the pretty woman in the flowing white cotton nightgown. It was a plain garment with no embellishment and no style. The fabric was obviously cheap and thin as a cloud. It made her look ghostly. “She is coming, and we do not have much time.”
“Are you speaking to me?” Lorna asked. She glanced around, surprised to discover that they were alone inside a big room. Or maybe she wasn’t too surprised. Finding herself in strange places, strange times, and with strange people was becoming a routine part of her life. Her perception of reality had taken a huge shift over the last year so that seeing a ghost, and she was pretty certain it was a ghost, didn’t much faze her.
The woman tilted her head and looked puzzled by her question. “Of course I am speaking to you. Do you see another with us? I certainly do not.” She threw out her arms and did a full circle, coming back around to face Lorna once more.
“But this is a vision.” Her rational mind told her it wasn’t real and she was simply experiencing another of her psychic visions. What made this one a bit stranger than any of the others was that she didn’t usually step inside them to participate. Well, not usually anyway. There was that Catherine moment when she had not only stepped inside the vision but also inside of Catherine herself.
“It is and it is not. I am here and so too are you. A vision perhaps, though a vision in which we must both participate. It is more important for you to understand.”
“This is fucked up,” Lorna said almost to herself. She liked the visions better when there was no interaction. Her one previous experience had nearly cost her life.
“I do not understand what you mean, but it is of no matter. Now please, I beg of you, hurry before she hears us and returns. You do not want her to come back and find us here. We must go.”
Vision or no vision, Lorna wasn’t getting the gist of what the ghost was so worried about. Clearly, they were alone here in the shadowland. “Who is this ‘she’ you’re so damned worried about? It seems clear to me that we’re the only ones in this place.”
She held out a hand, motioning frantically toward Lorna. “No, we are not alone. Nurse Thompson is nearby. Please,” she nearly cried.
“Nurse Thompson?” Who in the hell was Nurse Thompson? Whoever she was, this ghost obviously didn’t like her, and the fear in her eyes was quite real. Still, the ghost’s problem wasn’t hers at the moment. Her problem was finding Anna and Sadie, and this wasn’t very helpful. She needed to have a vision that would actually be a means to an end. From all appearances, her psychic powers were going a little wonky.
Lorna looked around and realized with a start that she was inside the Healing Waters Hospital, except it wasn’t the one she’d come to tonight. The room surrounding her came into focus, a
nd the reality was shocking. Not so much that she was inside instead of outside as she’d been when she touched the door handle. Rather, she was not in the same time period. This room looked brand-new and, more frightening, occupied. It was no longer the empty shell of a building in a compound of overgrown lawns and empty parking lots.
Looking around the ghost and down the hall, she could see the flicker of firelight through an open door. The crackle of burning wood and the scent of fragrant tamarack filled the air. Under other circumstances it would be pleasant. Here, it just felt creepy. She would wager the fireplaces in this old building hadn’t seen a stick of wood in at least three decades, if not longer.
The reception desk that took up a great deal of the entryway was polished and shining, adorned by a large bouquet of daylilies. A four-legged dark oak chair with a padded leather seat was pushed next to the work surface that was cluttered with papers and several old-style pens and sharpened pencils. A wall-mounted pencil sharpener with a small turn handle was on the wall next to the desk. She was a little fascinated by the piece, realizing she’d never seen one like it before. It was rare to see a pencil these days, let alone a sharpener with a rotary handle.
Lorna pulled her attention away from her surroundings and back to the frantic nightgown-clad woman. “What’s happening?” she asked. “Where are we? When are we?” If she could interact in this vision, it seemed only fair she could ask questions too.
“You have to help them,” the woman said as she held out her hand. “Hurry. You must hurry.” She motioned anxiously for Lorna to follow.
Maybe she could ask questions, but it appeared that getting answers to them was a completely different story.
“Help who?” She felt a little like a child who stomped her feet and held her ground until she got what she wanted.
“All of them.”
Twisted Screams Page 13
